Book 2 Chapter 5
The Bridge of Khazad-dûm *The Company searches the room for more clues to Balin's fate. *Gandalf finds a chronicle of Balin's expedition, but it's tattered and difficult to make out. *It definitely contains the nasty news that Balin, Óin, and Ori died in battle in the mines. *Worst of all are the last words of Ori: "We cannot get out. We cannot get out. The end comes drums, drums in the deep; they are coming (2.5.11). *Once Gandalf has finished his reading, they hear a loud booming noise echoing through the Mines. *It is the drums in the deep: the Enemy is coming. *Gandalf insists that they not block the eastern door – they cannot risk getting trapped like Ori and his friends. *Coming toward the Company, Gandalf sees huge numbers of Orcs, including some Uruks from Mordor, and at least one cave troll. *Boromir tries to barricade the door shut, but it opens slowly under the force of a "great, flat, toeless foot" (2.5.31). *To everyone's surprise, Frodo leaps forward and stabs the foot. *It jerks back, and Boromir gets the door shut. *Still, the Orcs outside break it down, and the battle begins. *A "huge Orc-chieftain, almost man-high" (2.5.38) stabs at Frodo with a spear that leaves him pinned to the wall. *Aragorn picks Frodo up and they run for the eastern door. *Frodo tells Aragorn to put him down; he can walk. Aragorn is stunned: he thought Frodo was dead. *They find a dark passage where they crouch in wait for Gandalf. *Gandalf stays behind to guard the door; they can hear him muttering something. *Soon, Gandalf rejoins them to say that he has done all he can, but he has met his match. *They have to run as fast as they can, seven flights of stairs down into the Mines. *Gandalf thinks they have reached the level of the Gates. Now, they must head east. *Still confused, Gandalf asks how Frodo survived the spear stabbing. *Frodo says he's fine – just bruised. *They press on. *But Gandalf notices something wrong: there is a mysterious glow ahead, and it's not daylight. It's fire. *Fortunately for the Company, they are on the right side of the fire: they are facing the way out, and the Orcs trying to kill them are on the other side of whatever is burning. *They reach a narrow bridge across a fifty-foot-wide chasm. They begin to cross. *Legolas turns back to fire his arrows at the Orcs when he sees something that frightens him: a Balrog. *Gandalf sends the Company ahead and stands in the middle of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm to face the Balrog. *He breaks the bridge with a sheet of flame, sending the Balrog into a deep pit, but the Balrog catches Gandalf's foot with his whip and Gandalf falls, too. *His last words are: "Fly, you fools!" (2.5.95). And just like that, he's gone. He falls into the abyss and it not seen again (for a time). *Aragorn shouts, "I will lead you now! ... We must obey his last command" (2.5.96). *The Company follows Aragorn in a daze. They emerge under the sky, looking out over Dimrill Dale. It is 1:00 in the afternoon, and the sun is high. *The drum-beats fade and the Company falls into grief.